The creative and operating life of any arts organization unfolds in fits and starts. Rather than gliding through extended periods of seamless stasis, the reality for most organizations is one of punctuated periods of interruptions and ‘shifting gears’. While we think of transitions as significant events in the life of arts organizations there are numerous transition moments that occur ongoing. These include expected transition moments (e.g. the conclusion of one project and beginning of the next) or unexpected moments (e.g. the sudden departure of a key staff member).

No matter the impetus for change, we believe that these transition moments can and should be seized as opportunities to create positive change. In times of transition organizations can be especially open to change and these junctures therefore become opportunities for leadership to insert or leverage planned and needed changes.

Then there is disruption. Disruptions demand change and can range from annoyances (crashing computers) to major crises (an opening night theatre flood). Disruptions tend to trigger emotional and reactive responses that result in implementation of changes out of context and at inopportune moments. This in turn can lead to serial reactive responses that can quickly pull an organization off-center.

If a transition moment is a fork in the road, disruption is a road block. Echoing a trend in corporate culture of intentional disruption – with the expectation of yielding ‘disruptive innovation’ – some in the nonprofit sector are intentionally throwing their organizations into a state of disruption. To us, this approach confuses distraction with productive development. For those disruptions beyond our control, the more they can be realigned and dealt with as transition moments the more all consequences of disruption can be absorbed without organizational distortion resulting.